Confucius

Confucius (551-479 BC) was a Chinese philosopher whose doctrine of duty and public service, Confucianism, had a great influence on subsequent Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials.

Biography
Kong Qiu withdrew from public life after failing to become an official and adviser to several rulers of the Spring and Autumn Period. He attracted a circle of students and presented his ideas on morality, conduct, and government to them, and his writings were handed down by several generations of disciples. These ideas were compiled in Analects, and they included children respecting their parents, which was an analogy to subjects respecting their ruler. He respected gods, ancestors, and religious traditions, but he felt that supernatural matters were unknowable. Confucius' disciples Mencius and Xunzi would develop the religion, which became the dominant political philosophy of education by government officials. His writings also praised the Zhou dynasty and the Duke of Zhou.